Is pain getting in the way of some of your favorite activities? Morning yoga, evening walks with your spouse, driving on a road trip, or even making dinner can be difficult when your back, neck, or shoulders start to ache with pain. If you’re ready to try a different — holistic approach to pain management — talk to your chiropractor or acupuncturist about adding class IV cold laser therapy to your treatment plan.
Cold Laser Therapy
What Is a Cold Laser?
Cold lasers are small devices that clinicians place over sore, injured areas. These lasers are about the size of a flashlight, and usually held for a few seconds or minutes over the treatment site. Based on your specific condition, your doctor may recommend and create a cold laser treatment plan. The treatment frequency recommended may vary based on the size of the area in pain, underlying health factors, and your health goals. Here is an example of a recommended plan: cold laser therapy two to three times per week for four to six weeks.
Cold lasers are a low level laser. The laser emits very low levels of light, which means it doesn’t heat your body’s tissue. The light passes through the different layers of your skin and fat tissue. Once the light reaches the target area, the mitochondria in your body’s cells absorb the light. Then, they convert it into usable energy. By targeting the mitochondria (the mitochondrion is also known as the powerhouse of a cell), the laser light increases the energy available to the cell so it can absorb nutrients faster and eliminate waste. This process is called intracellular metabolism, and it helps heal injured tissue. The process is similar to photosynthesis, in which plants absorb light and as a result, their cells are able to grow.
Class IV Cold Lasers
Class IV therapeutic cold lasers utilize a higher frequency than other cold lasers, and they ultimately provide the same results. However, patients who receive class IV laser treatment see results much faster than patients who receive lower frequency level cold laser therapy. Cold lasers provide no feeling or sensation, but class IV laser therapy gives off a warm, soothing feeling. Class IV lasers are also more powerful than other cold lasers. This means they can penetrate deeper into the body to reach painful spots.
Benefits of Class IV Cold Lasers
- Treatment is easy, quick, and painless. If you go to a clinician who uses a class IV laser rather than a traditional cold laser, you can benefit from treatment that is nearly 5 times faster. It should only take a few minutes of class IV cold laser therapy for you to get the maximum benefits.
- It helps subside pain and inflammation. Over the years, several clinical studies have shown that cold laser therapy effectively reduces chronic pain. Less pain also means less of a need for pharmaceutical pain relievers.
- It is a noninvasive and nontoxic treatment. Cold laser therapy requires no incisions, chemicals, or radioactivity.
- There are no known adverse side effects. You won’t have to worry about the negative side effects of other pain relievers, like addiction, a weakened immune system, or stomach ulcers.
- Cold laser therapy can help a variety of conditions. Some of these include arthritis, soft tissue injuries, ligament sprains, tendonitis, and muscle strains.
- Treatment is effective and long lasting.Unlike other pain treatment methods, cold laser therapy doesn’t mask pain. Instead, it works to heal the injured tissue. In many cases, patients see permanent results.
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If you want to take advantage class IV cold laser therapy, consult with your chiropractor or acupuncturist. For those who live near southwest Missouri, give Loehr Chiropractic & Acupuncture a call at 417-887-8075. Through combining class IV laser therapy with massage, chiropractic care, and acupuncture, it’s our goal to help our patients achieve a pain-free lifestyle. Our doctors are constantly working to refine and expand their abilities with additional advanced training. We’re here to help you live naturally and comfortably.
